By Gus Saltonstall
Congressmember Jerrold “Jerry” Nadler, who has represented the Upper West Side since 1992, joined 12 of his Jewish colleagues in writing a letter urging President Joe Biden to facilitate a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.
“A temporary ceasefire agreement would include returning all of the hostages to their families, stopping the violence and pervasive suffering in Gaza as well as the continued rocket fire on Israel from Gaza, and provide for a massive surge in humanitarian aid,” reads a news release about the letter.
Nadler is both the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and the most senior Jewish member of Congress. New York Rep. Dan Goldman and Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin were among those joining him on the letter.
“We cannot overstate the urgency of the hostages’ situation in Hamas’s captivity in Gaza, where they have been held for 139 days in dreadful conditions,” the letter reads. “Recently, we learned that 32 of the 134 remaining hostages are dead. Every day that the remaining living hostages are left to suffer in the tunnels in Gaza without medical attention increases the chances that more will die. The hostages and their families simply cannot wait any longer.”
Nadler, along with Goldman, has been an outspoken supporter of the war.
The letter also states that the “1.4 million displaced Palestinians in Gaza cannot wait any longer for access to additional humanitarian aid.”
The letter from the 13 Jewish members of Congress adds to growing pressure on Biden to support some sort of ceasefire in Gaza, which comes shortly after the United States vetoed a United Nations resolution calling for Israel to enact one.
It was the third time that the United States has used its veto to halt a ceasefire resolution, arguing that it would allow Hamas to regroup in Gaza.
The New York Times has reported, though, that the United States has drafted a resolution that is expected to be circulated in the coming weeks that calls for a temporary humanitarian ceasefire “as soon as practicable.”
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Have they tried sending that letter to Hamas. Eye roll.
The hostages is their insurance. There are people familiar with history of Hamas behaviors who think Hamas may keep some of them forever. There were instances when hostages were kept for many years. Nadler’s proposal is ludicrous. Hamas demands a lot more than just ceasefire.
Exactly. Hamas will say “no” to returning all of the hostages to their families, and to stopping the continued rocket fire on Israel from Gaza. Thanks for the suggestion, however!
As is the case with most letters and UN resolutions, the part about Israel receiving resulting benefits will be neglected because people will focus only on the Palestinian part of the equation. People have been citing UN Resolution 242 for decades as a justification for Palestinian statehood while ignoring the security protections for Israel that are also required by that resolution.
Contrary to popular myth U.N. Res 242 makes ZERO mention of Palestine or any Palestinian people as the lands captured by Israel in 1967 were never under the sovereignty of any Palestinian people or nation.
Res 242 simply suggests that Israel withdraw to safe and secure boundaries in return for peace. The resolution is vague as to who the land should revert to.
That said, since the Palestinians have refused time and time again to exchange peace for land Res 242 is essentially null.
You’re strictly correct but it’s implied that the Palestinians would benefit from an Israeli pullback. This is especially true in the West Bank to which King Hussein renounced Jordan’s ties in the 80’s when the PLO was designated as the sole representative of the Palestinians. The West Bank was territory that Jordan lost to Israel in the Six-Day War after he went to war against Israel for the third time. If Jordan had captured Israeli land, he would have happily kept it AND the West Bank.
One day, in 20-30 years when the PBS documentaries air about the mass genocide taking place in Palestine, viewers will sit in their living rooms with a glass of wine and they will ask themselves, why didn’t we act sooner?
No, they’ll ask themselves why they gave so much unchecked money and resources to Gaza that were used for nefarious purposes against Israel instead of using it to better the lives of those in Gaza. Please don’t tell me that the citizens of Gaza didn’t know what Hamas was doing. Can’t walk a block there without hitting a tunnel. Anyone who worked or went into a hospital/school/mosque had to know about their military use behind human shields.
“genocide
/ˈdʒɛnəsʌɪd/
noun
the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.”
Isn’t what actually happened on Oct 7 in Israel?
The official number is 1,139 killed in the Oct 7th attack. It’s terrible. I’m not excusing Hamas in any way. But that number isn’t high enough to be called genocide.
Which number is enough?
The issue is how many Israelis does Hamas want to kill? The answer is all of them. They have said so many times both before and after October 7. They are openly attempting genocide. They don’t get moral credit for being unable to accomplish their goals. They did not stop at 1139 because of any moral scruples. They killed as many as they could. This is the situation Israel is faced with.
“Isn’t what actually happened on Oct 7 in Israel?”
And history didn’t start on Oct. 7th either.
And the smart person in the room will explain to them that there was no genocide in Palestine because if Israel wanted a genocide they would have done it in 24 hours. He’ll also mention that Hamas kidnapped raped and tortured innocent civilians, women and babies and that Israel has the obligation to defend itself so hopefully it won’t happen again in those 30 years and forever.
BTW- As we write all that, Hamas still holds hostages among them are babies.
A day of a thousand atrocities- October 7 – and the thousands of families suffering the losses, the grief and injuries, including the pain of missing family members – is beyond tragic. The horror is lasting. (And no one except Hamas, plus whatever other militant groups, is responsible, even if Israel could have suffered only a fraction of the losses by being better prepared.) But preventing further such horror, or making peace after such horror cannot be achieved by dropped thousands of pounds of high explosives on truly defenseless families and children. For week after week – more than 130 days now. Every hospital in the entire territory – a place inhabitants cannot flee! Israel is “shooting fish in a barrel” and calling it war, because the snake they want to kill is under the barrel. Most Gazans now alive did not vote for Hamas: half the current population of Gaza wasn’t even born during that complex 2006 plurality election, and did not support Hamas during the violent aftermath. But many thousands of them, including thousands of babies, have now been killed, maimed, orphaned by Israeli (and US made) bombs. Most of the tens of thousands of dead, injured, orphaned, homeless, and now starving, have no connection whatever to Hamas, despite Hamas call them “willing martyrs.” No doubt, Hamas is a terror organization- so was the IRA. The IRA also set off bombs outside their territory in the 80s – never a day like Oct 7, but bombing an English hotel, killing innocents, blowing up military leaders, firing mortars into government offices…over and over again, to raise pressure in the 1980s. And the English military, and the Northern Irish Protestant paramilitaries made counter- attacks, imprisoned hundreds – were horrible, violent, etc. Terrible, dangerous times, full of abuses. Based on decades of inter-religious and territorial strife. Was the answer to that terrorism EVER just British Army bombardment of civilians, because “everyone was IRA”? No – that would have been obscene, overkill, collective punishment of civilians, etc.. That is what this is. Slow motion ethnic cleansing, flattening towns – yes, Israel could accomplish genocide faster, but that does not mean this isn’t the slower version. Genocide is not usually announced. Excuses are made. Nods are given to merciful means. But hypocrisy is always “vice’s nod to virtue”: cynical words like “we try to give warning” or “we tell them to move south/north” are pretty meaningless when the actions bring such clear results. UN schools, hospitals, mosques, houses, farms….flattened in the alleged name of military targeting . (Parts of Gaza like Hamburg or Dresden – acknowledged Allied war crimes.) The strategy is punishment, including clear targeting of journalists and aid workers, because news gets out, and the bombing has not stopped. A few rockets- against which Israel is almost 100% defended – do not make this a war. This is inexcusable unrelenting bombardment of civilians. And this Israeli military strategy is happening thanks to US complicity, complacency, and no controls over our own weapons transfers and our tax dollars for military aid. In Ireland it took decades for the English to acknowledge they needed to sit across the table from sworn enemies they’d vowed never to acknowledge. But they did. It was really hard, awkward, near-impossible work, but the Good Friday Accords were achieved. And a generation of Belfast and Londonderry children have grown up without bombs and soldiers and family members embroiled, injured, imprisoned, abused. 25 years of peace. What will it take for the Israel and surrounding countries – with US help, not hinderance – to give the same peace to the next generation of Palestinian and Israeli children? Is it possible? Far from an exact parallel, I know. But the one I knew best. Just don’t kid yourselves, tunnels and human shields or no. This bombardment continues to be murderously, inhumanely, dipropoporionately, indefensibly wrong. Cease fire is a first step. Aid is the minimum help. Small steps, Jerry Nadler, but thanks for the steps. We need more.
Good points.
Bad points.
In between points.
Bottom line – demand a cease fire from Hamas.
Release of ALL hostages.
Surrender of Hamas.
End of current conflict.
Work on solution to end this on going war, once and for all.
The Israeli government is not attempting to exterminate the Palestinian people. You and everyone else making this ridiculous charge have zero evidence of this. Hence the term genocide is inappropriate. As much as I would like to cut of all our military aid to the Israeli right wing government, making overheated hyperbolic statements to try to get a particular foreign policy outcome you want isn’t helping the situation. Nor is it alleviating the suffering of Palestinian civilians. What’s ironic is that THEIR government openly maintains genocidal objectives.
Oh, you mean like they’ve done for years after the Holocaust?! I wonder if people will be thankful that Israel did their dirty work and erased the terror of Hamas which threatens all of us. Israel is actually fighting America’s war, which is really one backed by Iran. There are two sides to this. I’m sad about all the losses – it’s horrendous – and in favor of a ceasefire as long as the hostages are returned, Hamas can’t regroup and Iran backs down.
And after the 50 plus years since the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Munich games, I’m asking myself why the Palestinians couldn’t do better than the Black September Group or the PLO. Ask the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip if Hamas was a better alternative.
Well, Israel did support Hamas for decades, so as to undercut the PLO, and now the PA.
Oh wait, that’s not part of your narrative.
No it’s not. Hamas was duly elected by the Palestinians after Israel left the Gaza Strip. Until the Palestinians choose a government that doesn’t call for the destruction of Israel then another 50 years from now, this conflict will continue.
Oh wait, that’s not part of your narrative…
I’m calling for immediate return of all the Israeli hostages and the unconditional surrender of Hamas. In exchange, all the humanitarian aid they want and a cease fire. Let’s see how that goes. Hamas: your move.
…Only a ‘temporary’ ceasefire? What’s that about?
Nadler’s letter is very nice. I agree with its sentiment. Since Hamas will not release its hostages, in exchange for a ceasefire or anything else for that matter, Nadler’s letter is sadly meaningless.
It is sometimes amazing to me how so many seemingly sensible humans can approve of War as long as it doesn’t kill too many people……The actual number of approved dead is still vague.
Please ask Rep. Nadler how safe he would feel living on the other side of the fence from Hamas’ Gaza.
You should ask yourself how you would feel living in refugee camps in Gaza and under Israeli bombardment with barely any essential supplies . Come on now .
Never Again, means Never Again.
Freeing the hostages is non-negotiable.
Free the hostages, then negotiate a cease-fire.
Outrageous to call for a cease-fire as long as hostages are being held.
That’s what he said – ceasefire dependent on release of hostages. Not that hard to understand. I was actually expecting him to say ceasefire before release of hostages and was pleasantly surprised.
The equation here is really simple. Israel has made a very clear, simple demand. Those who have a problem with this are living in fantasy land and are as crazy as the MAGA folks. Let me people go.
No, that is NOT what he said.
“A temporary ceasefire agreement would include returning all of the hostages to their families, stopping the violence and pervasive suffering in Gaza as well as the continued rocket fire on Israel from Gaza, and provide for a massive surge in humanitarian aid,” reads a news release about the letter.”
In plain English, ceasefire so that hostages can be returned.
Hostages must be returned FIRST, before any discussion of any ceasefire (temporary or otherwise), and before any discussion of continued aid.
As long as hostages are held, bombing should be accelerated and intensified until not a single terrorist (current, actual, and/or potential) remains.
When did our politicians get so spineless, nutless, and brainless as to think that Hamas can be dealt with on a good-faith basis?
Have you listened to the on the ground testimony from Palestinian civilians describing the HORRORS they are faced with from an indifferent Israel? Israel is a nuclear weapon holding global super power, Palestinians stand no chance against them. Women and children are making food out of weeds and sand to feed their families as Israel drops bombs on their former houses and killing their families who were unable to flee. Acting like Israel is doing anything in good conscience just is inhumane and abhorrent. Seeing Israeli citizens dancing in the houses of former Palestinians and cheering that they’re reclaiming land that is “truly” theirs is something I can’t get out of my head.
The demand for ceasefire goes back to before October 7th. Israel is not a victim. Especially since they had the military intelligence to know ahead of time that Hamas was planning something, they just assumed they were too weak/stupid to be able to accomplish an attack. The blood on October 7th is on Israel, not Palestine, and certainly not the innocent Palestinian citizens.
“The United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and various human-rights organizations still consider Gaza to be held under Israeli military occupation – due to what they regard as Israel’s effective military control over the territory – as well as under blockade by Israel and Egypt.”
PRESIDENT Biden, Tell Netenyahoo, stop war or else loose financial suport completely from the USA.
“I understand the Arabs wanting to wipe us out, but do they really expect us to cooperate?” – Golda Meir
Our tax payer monies! While we walk over people living in the streets, on subway platforms, under bridges . . ..
Every demand for ceasefire should demand the immediate release of hostages with equal force.
Every protest about Gaza should also have signs demanding justice for the murdered, tortured, raped, and abducted victims of the October 7 attacks.
The politicians and protestors who fail to do this are empowering Hamas terrorists and prolonging the war.
NYC should have a large multi-religion gathering every week for people who want to mourn and pray together for both Israelis and Palestinians. Why are we allowing ourselves to be divided?
We had a cease fire for 6 years; what changed on October 7????
FAFO
Definitely not voting for him if he runs again. Very disappointed.